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Get more from your shiny box of joy: Taking Apple TVs to the next levelFri, 31 Jul 2015 00:17:15 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.6aTV Flash 4.5 for 1st generation Apple TV releasedhttp://www.appletvhacks.net/2012/08/09/atv-flash-4-5-for-1st-generation-apple-tv-released/
http://www.appletvhacks.net/2012/08/09/atv-flash-4-5-for-1st-generation-apple-tv-released/#commentsThu, 09 Aug 2012 15:13:54 +0000http://www.appletvhacks.net/?p=2931Visit What's on iPhone for the best iPad and iPhone app reviews!Do you want to feel like a wizard? Check the Kymera wand in Amazon: You can control your Apple TV waving a wand!
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Wondering how to watch live sport streaming on Apple TV?The answer is easy: XBMC, AirPlay, Mac/PC screen mirroring and, of course, native Apple TV sport apps. Finding football, baseball, basketball, soccer, tennis, UFC, WWF, or anything else on your Apple TV can feel like and impossible task to anyone one who sits down and sees the limited options in Apple iOS interface, with its limited content partnerships. Though it looks bleak there is a very bright cloud to this quandary and that is the never-ending combination of features we can through at this magical little box.

XBMC

If you have read any of my other pieces, you already know that I am an XBMC fan-boy. XBMC is the best thing to happen to the Apple TV for many reasons, the least of which being its ability to stream live sports content. There are many addons that can be found at forums.xbmc.org to fill your gaming needs! Here is a list of the most popular, stable tools:

SportsDevil

This is easily one of the more popular, and better-known, add-ons when it comes to sports and XBMC. This add-on is great because it works 95% of the time. I have only ever missed one college game with SportsDevil. This add-on is free and there is no charge for connecting to the streams it makes available.

This is another great source for sporting content. The truth is, if you want to view a LIVE TV event… one of your best bets would be to view it via this Live TV add-on. With in this add-on you are able to choose different categories of TV, specifically Sports. You are then given a large list of links for currently streaming sports channels: ESPN, CBS, NBC, etc. And again… this add-on is free to use.

Navi-X is one of the best tools, yet sometimes tricky to utilize. This add-on often has more links than any other source out there for LIVE streaming TV and specifically SPORTS. The trick is finding them. If you are unfamiliar with Navi-X you will simply want to use the search feature found on the main screen. Otherwise, often you can scroll through the MOST POPULAR OVER THE PAST 24 HOURS and you will see all of the Live Sports Streams posted on this page.

Check out this tutorial to learn how to install XBMC addons on Apple TV (1st and 2nd generation).

AirPlay

If XBMC is the best thing to happen to the apple TV, AirPlay is certainly the second best! Quite often you can find the game you want on apps that are available in the AppStore for you iOS device (iPhone, iPod, iPad). With these apps, or perhaps a webpage link, you are able to AirPlay content from your mobile device’s screen to your Apple TV, or even XBMC on your Apple TV, without skipping a beat.

Justin.TV is a long time king of live sports streams. Though this app can be more hit and miss than its XBMC counterparts, it does often have what you are looking for. Simply download the app, search for the game, and choose the AirPlay option to through the video to your Apple TV.

Get CBS Sports for iPhone! The app delivers comprehensive news, video and scores for MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Golf, Tennis, NASCAR, College hoops and more. Follow your favorite team and sport, and catch up on the latest news, scores, stats and video highlights of the day. Plus, the app offers live streaming College Basketball and Football

TO MANY TO COUNT (iOS)

To be fair, when it comes to the ability to AirPlay there is a limitless number of options that are available in the form of the AppStore apps. For this reason, here is a link to the AppStore offering all of the apps labeled “sports”.

Android

Though Android devices do not have the iOS 5 feature of AirPlay built in, XBMC does! With this remote installed on your mobile device, you can send any “ONLINE” video content to your XBMC installation on your Apple TV. This is true AirPlay functionality with out the name, or the help of Apple.

We all know we can watch live sports online, but sometimes it’s a right mission to get to where you want to go or find a good link to watch live sports right on the Apple TV. Well, this is where SportsDevil, an XBMCaddon, comes into its own!

SportsDevil gives you access to thousands of links for all the different kinds of sports. And I mean all! You will be shocked to see how many different varieties of sport that SportsDevil covers. It gives you several internet steaming sites to where you can view sporting events (it seems that it gets updated with new streaming sites every month or so).

There are 6 streaming sites with live sports at the moment which you can choose from, hopefully this list will get bigger to give you more and more options. Not every stream will work, but you normally have 10+ links per streaming of whatever sporting event you choose, and 1 of them will work for you! In my experience, SportsDevil really stands up to its name and I can’t go without this on my Apple TV 2.

Allows users to sync movies and television shows from the IceFilms add-on to their internal library

Offers the ability to refresh your library in intervals that you decide.

It offers filters so that you can scan for all movies released after a certain date… allowing to you have access to all movies released since 2003, should you desire to.

The possibilities are endless, making this one of my favorite add-ons.

Download & Support:

IceLibrary Development and Releases come directly from xbmchub.com, via its development team. This add-ons has gone from a one man team, to a community driven project. You can download IceLibrary addon from here.

Access to all Hulu + content, for users who have signed up for the service.

This add-ons comes with the unique ability to add shows and movies, from Hulu, to your XBMC library. This enables you to do a lot of cool stuff!

Allows control of the amount of ads, or pre-roles, displayed.

Download & Support:

HULU ADD-ON Development and Releases come directly from forum.xbmc.org, via its developer bluecop. This developer is known for having some AMAZING addons in his repos! You can download Hulu addon from here.

Though this add-on offers both television and movies. It is known for its movies.

Latest movie release are updated to FastPassTV at a rate that is second to none. If there is something you gotta see NOW(!) FastPassTV is a good way to go.

Download & Support:

FastPassTv’s Development and Releases come directly from xbmchub.com, via its developer, who is also a developer for IceFilms. Its actual creator is always open to help with problems.Fast Pass TV addon from here.

Combines live tv streams with a handful of 24 hour streams of shows like Friends, King of Queens, and more.

24 movie channels including Starz.

Live streaming sports

Download & Support:

LiveTV’s Development and Releases come directly from forum.xbmc.org, via this add-ons developer. Its actual creator is always open to help and can be found either at xbmc.org or xbmchub.com. You can dowlnoad Live TV addon from here.

The default remote control for your Apple TV is small, slick, and smooth. To many users, of Apple‘s “hobby” device, it is also thought to be too small and somewhat limited in features. For those of you have found the Apple TV to be limited only by its remote… you have likely found the iOS remote to be a decent alternative to Apples’ hardware offering. Though this iOS remote can help fill the void, eventually you will want to control your Apple TV while using your iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod) device for something else.

For years now Apple TV’s have had a simple, yet amazing, ability to use a remote that came with your TV, cable box, or DVD player to also control Apple TV (both 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation). Here is how to do this (official instructions from Apple):

Note: If you have an Apple TV (1st generation), update to Apple TV software 2.3 or later.

Using the Apple Remote included with Apple TV, choose Settings > General > Remotes.

Choose Learn Remote.

Set your remote to a device setting that doesn’t control any other devices in the area or identify other buttons that do not already control a function on your TV or other device. Many third-party remotes have an option to control different devices such as a VCR or DVD player, or have an auxiliary (AUX) option for an unspecified device.

Start.

Apple TV will display icons that represent the six buttons on the Apple Remote with the “Up” or “+” button highlighted first.

Using your third-party remote, press and hold the button you would like to use to control the “up” function until the blue progress bar is full, as shown below.

Apple TV will then select the next button function. Repeat step 6 and 7 using a different button

After you have programmed all six button functions, you can now use your third-party remote to control Apple TV.

Optionally, you can set up specific playback buttons for fast-forward, rewind, next chapter, and more.

You can program additional remotes to control Apple TV by repeating steps 1 through 8. At anytime you can rename, delete or revise your button choices for a selected third-party remote by choosing Settings > General > Remotes and selecting a third-party remote that Apple TV has already learned.

I, personally, encourage you to take the time and give it a go… and post your results below. This little trick can help breathe new life into your little magic box!

Just in case you were unaware, XBMChas finally released an Eden copy of XBMC for your old Apple TV (1st generation). Though this 1st gen device is not the easiest to load XBMC on to, it is by no means impossible. If you simply follow these steps, from beginning to end, you will be enjoying unlimited multimedia goodness in no time.

Before we start, there are some basic requirements that are absolutely necessary for this installation process.

Computer (Windows or MAC)

USB port and ATV USB Creator (grab it from the link provided and download it to your machine)

A Flash Drive (USB Stick) that is a minimum 512MB.

A 1st Generation Apple TV that has been updated to the latest software, version 3.0.2!

BE SAFE: To be on the safe side, make sure that you have unplugged all other USB drives from your computer before continuing. USB Creator does erase whatever drive you are using, so you want to make sure there is nothing vital loaded on any devices plugged in once we begin.

2. Insert your flash drive into your computer and format it to FAT32. Be aware that this step will erase anything located on your USB stick.

3. Open and run the ATV USB Creator software that we downloaded in step #1.

4. Once the software opens up, select the following options:

- Where you see “Choose an Installation” select “ATV-Patchstick”

- You don’t need to do anything for “Download AppleTV Update DMG or Choose a DMG”. ATV USB Creator will automatically download this file from Apple’s servers, so you don’t need to do anything there.

- For “Installation Options” you should not need to change anything. “AppleTV version 3.x” should already be selected, and there should already be check marks for “ssh tools”, “bin utils”, “SoftwareMenu”, and “XBMC/Boxee for Mac”

- For “USB Target Device” select the USB drive you plugged into your computer in step #2. You may need to hit the refresh button for it to show up. Now you can click on “Create Using ->”

- When the USB drive patchstick is done being created you can then remove it from your computer.

5. Unplug your Apple TV and insert the USB drive patchstick into the back of your device.

6. With the flash drive plugged into the back of your Apple TV, plug the power cable back in. As the Apple TV begins to power up it should now be loading from the flash drive. Now we will wait for the picture of a Penguin (Tux) sitting on an Apple TV. If you do not see this picture when you boot up, and the Apple TV 1 just boots up normally, you likely need to create a new USB drive patchstick using a different USB drive (preferably using a different brand). This problem isn’t often, but it does happen.

7. After the installation is finished, the screen will say that you can reboot. When you see this screen, remove the USB drive patchstick and then unplug (& then) re-plug the power chord to your Apple TV. This will reboot your device.

8. You now have ALL KINDS OF GOODNESS installed on your Apple TV. This is most noticeable in the fact that you now have a new option on your HOME SCREEN Menu Bar named “Launcher”

9. From your Home Screen, navigate to the option labeled “Launcher”. Once there continue to “Downloads”, and then select XBMC. This may show more than one entry for XBMC, if so, select the option that says “Stable”.

10. If you are one of the lucky people who have opted to install a new Crystal HD card you should visit stmlabs.com to get more information on Crystalbuntu. It is a different software… that is installed in the exact same manner as the steps listed above.

11. Finally, from the “Launcher” section, head “XBMC” in the sub-menu to start XBMC.

Old Apple TV is not dead! Remote HD has just released a new plugin for the old Apple TV that adds the missing AirPlay functionality. AirPlay can now be added to any first generation Apple TV by installing the Remote HD plugin and activating it using Remote HD iOS application. Once the plugin is activated, any AirPlay enabled application can be used to stream video and photos to the Apple TV.

According to the developer, all existing Remote HD customers get this functionality for free. AirPlay audio streaming will be added soon.

Remote HD’s Apple TV plugin must be installed and running on the Apple TV before you can control it with Remote HD. This part explains how to unlock your Apple TV using free opensource tools and install/upgrade Remote HD plugin on it:

Unlock your Apple TV using opensource atvusb-creator.
Step by step instructions can be found here and here.

“frontrow” without the quotes is the default password.
If prompted with a security prompt to confirm connecting, type in yes.

Thats it, you’re done! Now grab your device and have Remote HD scan for available connections. Your Apple TV should show up in the list of available WiFi-connections – just tap to connect!
The default password is empty.

aTV Flash, a great Apple TV enhancement that turns your device into powerful streaming media center for your living room has just been upgraded to version 4.2 that brings Last.fm and many more amazing features to your atv. On this occasion, in cooperation with FireCore, we’are giving away 5 licenses of this amazing software.

The 4.2 version brings Last.fm to your old Apple TV. “Last.fm for AppleTV is a new, rich, visually engaging way to experience your favorite music like never before. It provides access to Last.fm radio, artist bios, artist slideshows and allows you to ‘scrobble’ plays (including plays from the built-in music player) back to your Last.fm account,” FireCore said on their blog.

Current users with aTV Flash installed can updated to version 4.2 through the Maintenance –> Manage Plugins menu. Once updated, Last.fm will appear as an option in the Manage Plugins menu.

“We’ve sold a lot of them but it’s never been huge hit,” Jobs said last week. How could we not agree: Apple TV wasn’t a game changer for the living room. But hey, there are hundreds thousands of users completely satisfied with the existing ATV (according to the analysts, Apple might have sold 3 million Apple TV devices worldwide) and most of them never even thought of hacking this mysterious box! That’s why here at Apple TV Hacks, we think Steve has figured it out very well: what the average customer wants from his/her HDTV in the living room is to play latest movies, popular TV shows, family vacation photo slideshow and maybe some music from time to time. We, geeks, need more, that’s obvious, and that’s why we are so disappointed with the new device. The only thing we can do now is to try to squeeze as much as we can out of this hockey puck when we put our hands on it sometime at the end of September.

But before that happens, let’s focus on what we know about the second generation Apple TV so far.

Storage
No internal storage – instant online streaming (iTunes, Netflix, Flickr, Mobile Me, etc.) and local streaming (from your mac or pc via iTunes).
But Steve only said there will be no “storage management”, no details were given on what exactly is inside the box, no details on RAM.

iPhone or iPod touch running Remote app (free). Not so comfortable as Apple Remote device, but facilitates writing: use your device’s QWERTY keyboard to quickly tap out the title instead of clicking letters on the Apple TV screen.

OS
No details on the OS are given by Apple. According to Boing Boing, an Apple spokesperson said that the new Nano and Apple TV don’t use iOS, but other sources reports he has only confirmed that the new Nano doesn’t use this OS.

Since the second generation Apple TV is powered by A4 chip, like other iOS devices, it probably runs some form of iOS, just not identical as iPhone or iPad.

Content

Movies

– iTunes rentals available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom:
– HD: new releases – $4.99, library titles – $3.99
– SD: new releases – $3.99, library titles – $2.99
– instant access; you have 30 days to start watching, and once you begin, you can watch as many times as you want in 24 hours
– availability: often the same day they come out on DVD
– searching by top movies, title, or genre; trailers, reviews, Rotten Tomatoes rating

Older Apple TVs will continue to work as they have been working up to this point, and they will continue to be able to purchase movies and TV shows even though the new Apple TV is rental-only.

TV Shows

– iTunes rentalsonly available in the US
– titles from: ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel and BBC America
– commercial free
– 99¢ per episode (HD and SD)
– once you rent an episode, you have 30 days to press Play. Then it’s yours for the next 48 hours
– Apple TV keeps track of your favorite shows so the next time you turn on your TV, you can see which season you’re watching and which episodes are new

Netflix

– only available in the US
– Netflix subscription required
– watch your content right away or add it to your instant-watch queue

Coming soon: streaming from iPhone, iPod touch or iPad to the Apple TV with AirPlay, a new feature that will come with iOS 4.2 in November. There will be no need to rent or buy a movie or TV show again if you already have it on one of your iOS devices.

Price and availability
Apple will start shipping the new Apple TV at the of September/beginning of October for $99.

Sadly, there will be no updates for current ATV.

Possible hacks
Hacking the new Apple TV will be much more difficult since it has no USB host (no patchstick, no external hard drive) and hard drive (no room for additional files). “The hacking will probably have to be done via hooking the AppleTV up like a hard drive, and I doubt it will be as easy as the original one,” thinks NitoTV. And if the device is truly based on some form of the iOS, we will rather have to talk about “jailbreaking”, not “hacking”.

But we are sure that together with the great and creative ATV Hacks community we will soon make the new device more “usable”. “We’re committed to developing for the AppleTV platform, and will continue to do so once these new models are available,” said Firecore, the developer behind aTV Flash. Fingers crossed!

Interesting comment from our Facebook page:
“The real question is whether app developers will be able to utilize “air play” for their apps.. If so then apps like HuLu+ pandora ect will be able to work on the new aTV that way and apps like stream-to-me and airVideo will be able to deliver any video codec from your Mac or network storage drive (if you have an iOS device).”